Saturday, It Begins...

In my last post I talked about running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign for the 1st time in over 10 years. My players are getting excited to start and I'm both excited and nervous. The players interact with the Dungeon Master (referee and creator for the game) to tell a story of sorts and each relies on the other to craft a fulfilling experience.

Almost 28 years have passed since I started playing this game. The game has gone full circle in a way going from a set of rules to use with miniature war games to a loose set of rules for role-playing games now to a hybrid of miniatures, role-playing, and structured character development like you find in most computer games. I've resisted each upgrade in the rules but in the end have changed over and enjoyed each new edition for what it is. Friends are really what make the game fun. A good bunch of players can make an afternoon or evening disappear in a moment and you wonder what has happened.

That's a little of where the nervous comes in. I've known all 3 of the players for 10+ years and I don't foresee any real problems with the game. But I've never been in a position of direction or leadership with these guys. One of the players likes to push the boundaries of the rules. Another of the players likes to have fun with his character at the expense of the other characters in play which can frustrate players. I hope I'm up to the task of maintaining order and keeping the players focused on what is important for the game to be successful.

Greyhawk is the original fantasy world created by Gary Gygax and The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is set along the south coast of Keoland in this world. For a decade or more, Greyhawk was the only commercial campaign world and all of the modules that were created for D&D were set in this world. I have been nostalgic for these adventures lately. Maybe this is my version of a midlife crisis, missing something I loved dearly when I was young. Or maybe the newer products just aren't as good. Either way, I'm excited to be exploring the lands and their adventures again.

I'm combining products from 3 editions of the game into 1 complete product. The original adventures were written for 1st edition and the town of Saltmarsh was fully detailed in 3rd edition. Characters are being created using 2nd edition rules which are mostly compatible with 1st edition and the framework for the game will be a 1st/2nd combination. A mix of editions and rules should help to give the game a unique feel, one I hope everyone enjoys.

My reading choices of late should also help flavor the action. I have been spending a lot of time reading stories by H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard and should be able to use some influences from the Cthulhu mythos and the tales of Conan and Solomon Kane to create a tone for the game that is both mysterious but adventurous. These classic stories are not the high fantasy of Tolkien but grittier stories that deal more with simple survival and overcoming adversaries as well as exploring the unknown. All of these elements should make for some fun adventures.

Hopefully my learning and experiences from the past 10 years will be of benefit for administering the game. I'm not the same person I was then and I like to think I have a greater insight into the game and how the story-telling should work. The reactions of my players by Saturday evening should begin to tell me if I'm on the right track.

Not Very Good At This Blogging Thing...

It has been almost 5 months since I last posted to this blog. A lot has happened in that time. We've taken 3 family vacations to Disneyland (July, August, & November). I've completed my per-requisites for bariatric surgery and have submitted them to insurance for approval. Another college semester has begun and is now nearing completion. I guess not that much has really happened but it just seems like a lot.

Home life seems to be going ok. Amy has a growth around her thyroid. Biopsies have been inconclusive. Her thyroid is working normally and she doesn't want it cut out because she doesn't want to be on medicine for the rest of her life. I agree with her but if it turns out to be cancer, I don't want her to die because she doesn't want to take a pill. I want her around and I'm sure Elizabeth wants her around for a long time to come yet. Amy is researching everything and trying to wrap her head around it and make a decision. It depresses her and makes her angry. I wish I could do something to make it easier for her. I'll support whatever she wants to do.

Elizabeth is more amazing everyday. Just thinking about her makes me happy. She is turning into such a big kid already. Disneyland is quickly becoming one of her favorite places (who can blame her) and she doesn't understand why we just can't visit there all the time. She wants to help mom make dinner and play games with her on the Wii, even if her coordination & timing is still not very good. And she just wants to be with us all the time, which is ok by me. I do love taking her to the mall and watching her play with others in the kid's corral. She's a social butterfly and loves the attention but she is also good natured and shares and plays well with others. I wish I was as good of a person sometimes.

I'm gearing up to run a Dungeons & Dragons game for the 1st time in 10 years. Part of it is a feeling of nostalgia I've had lately which has been fueled by eBay. I've been able to buy some items I lost from my childhood and now feel a need to play with them. The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is one of the adventure modules I remember most fondly from my early days of playing D&D and now I've bought the series and plan to run it for some friends who have never played the adventures. I hope I get it right and can make them feel the same way I did when I first set foot in the haunted mansion and then the shock of discovering the truth. I also bought a set of Traveller rules that are about 30 years old. I owned these in the early 80s and a friend borrowed them and never returned them. I don't know if I will get around to running a game but I thought it was always the best science fiction RPG on the market. Maybe someday...

I guess that's about it for now. Life is challenging but good. I feel mostly happy and look forward to the holiday season and what it brings with family and friends. I will try not to let this go so long again.